"The main idea came from Nick, who saw and article in Time magazine about these assholes who poach and hunt animals [like James Hetfield, for example?]. It disgusted all of us. These guys get ten to twenty thousand dollars per animal, depending on the rarity of the species. We all felt it was the perfect example of a society going mad, becoming extinct. Their big guns equal their big dicks! The whole thing we had in LA with those riots is an example of man heading toward extinction. Those riots were about depression, oppression, inequality and racism, about a prejudiced judicial system" (Mustaine, 1992).
"It deals with canned hunts in America's south - in Texas, for example, they cage exotic animals and drug them up. When they stagger out of the cage, hunters shoot them in the head, take a picture with the dead animal and say that they hunted in some exotic place" (Mustaine, 1992).
"The girl who did the spoken part in the middle is a friend of mine named Jun. She worked at a sushi bar near the studio so we asked her to come and record with us. She is a cool chick and I still keep in touch with her. This song won us the Genesis award, given out by an animal activist group. At the star-studded Hollywood awards ceremony Ellefson and I tried hard to contain our laughter as these TV and movie stars got up on stage and anthropomorphosised in their acceptance speeches. "I'd like to thank so-and-so, so-and-so, so-and-so, but most importantly of all, Fluffy and Fido, for their constant inspiration, blah, blah, blah..." (Friedman, 2002).
http://megadeth.rockmetal.art.pl/lyrics_countdown.html#Countdown
Countdown to Extinction
Megadeth, 1992
(album: Countdown to Extinction)
(Music, lyrics: Mustaine, Ellefson, Menza, Friedman)
Endangered species, caged in fright,
Shot in cold blood, no chance to fight.
The stage is set, now pay the price.
An ego boost, don't think twice.
Technology, the battle's unfair,
You pull the hammer without a care.
Squeeze the trigger that makes you Man,
Pseudo-safari, the hunt is canned...
The hunt is canned
Chorus:
All are gone, all but one.
No contest, nowhere to run.
No more left, only one.
This is it, this is the countdown to extinction
Tell the truth, you wouldn't dare.
The skin and trophy, oh so rare.
Silence speaks louder than words.
Ignore the guilt and take your turn.
Liars anagram is "lairs,"
Man you were never even there.
Killed a few feet from the cages,
Point blank, you're so courageous...
So courageous
(Chorus)
"One hour from now,
Another species of life form
Will disappear off the face of the planet
Forever... And the rate is accelerating."